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Moon Township, PA — The NEC Men’s Lacrosse final lived up to the hype in every way.

Top-seeded Robert Morris and second-seeded LIU went toe-to-toe for 60 minutes, producing a finish straight out of a movie. In the end, it was the Colonials who emerged the 8-7 victor thanks to a last-second goal by Graeme MacLennan.

The NEC title win was the fourth in program history for Robert Morris, and completed its quest to go back-to-back.

MacLennan’s game-winner, his third of the evening, came with just 1.8 seconds to play. His one-timed shot off of a feed from Ben Eck sent the Robert Morris faithful into a frenzy. MacLennan was named NEC Tournament MVP for his efforts.

That moment of magic came after Robert Morris had relinquished a late goal of its own. LIU’s Aidan Zuhoski, who had played the hero in LIU’s semifinal win, did so again for the Sharks by finding the back of the net with just 27 seconds on the clock to tie the game at seven. Like MacLennan, Zuhoski scored a hat trick in his push to lead the Sharks to their first crown. 

Up until those final 27 seconds, the game was a hard-fought defensive battle.

The Sharks drew first blood, with Charlie Hunnewell putting his team up 1-0. MacLennan answered four minutes later with his first goal of the clash to level things at a goal apiece. 

The last 50 seconds of the opening period saw a short flurry of offense. Ben Eck gave Robert Morris its first lead with 50 seconds remaining in the quarter, followed by another Colonial goal from NEC Player of the Year Dylan Anderson at the 10 second mark to make it 3-1. Ben McIsaac answered with a buzzer beater to end the period to cut LIU’s deficit to one.

Zuhoski tied the game at three with a goal in the early goings of the second, helping LIU keep pace. 

The next 10 minutes were a defensive stalemate, cementing the 3-3 deadlock. With 2:20 left in the half, Joel McCormick made his mark on the game with a pair of goals in a 58 second span to make it 5-3 RMU. With the Colonials seemingly entering the break with the momentum, McIsaac once again beat the horn to swing the momentum back in LIU’s direction. The junior attacker cut LIU’s deficit to 5-4 at halftime.

The Robert Morris defense came out of the locker room strong, holding the Sharks scoreless for nearly 21 minutes to open the second half. First team All-NEC keeper Nate Fechter made five saves in that span, including a tremendous kick save early in the fourth quarter.

The Colonials would only score once themselves in the third quarter, courtesy of a Tommy Linehan goal. 

LIU finally broke their scoring drought with just over nine minutes remaining in the final period. Antony Tsakos hit the back of the cage to once again draw LIU within a goal. Less than two minutes later, Zuhsoki scored his second goal of the game to finally bring the Sharks even for the first time in over two full quarters of game time.

MacLennan put RMU back in front late, making it 7-6 and putting the Colonials less than three minutes away from a championship.

Zuhoski would come up clutch for LIU in the legendary game’s final minute, but his efforts were overshadowed by MacLennan’s game-winner in the dying moments.

With the last-second heroics, RMU’s journey to a second-straight title was complete. 
 
The Colonials will find out their first NCAA Tournament opponent during the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Selection Show, which will air on Sunday, May 3 at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

NEC All-Tournament Team
Graeme MacLennan, RMU (MVP)
Nate Fechter, RMU
Joel McCormick, RMU
Owen Tapper, RMU
Tyler Davide, LIU
Ryan Fountain, LIU
Aidan Zuhoski, LIU
Xander Johnson, CSU
Griffin Valli, CSU
Beau Durkin, VMI
Adam Norris, VMI